Canon announced new instant rebates this week on three of its imagePROGRAF PRO-Series printers. These printers were launched with all new technology for photographers and printers looking for ease of use paired with exception image quality and finely tuned consistency.

Every year, we look back on the innovative work our customers have created, and we’re never anything less than amazed. This year has been no different. Take a look back through five of the coolest projects our customers printed for their customers in 2018.

Reproducing Art for a Good Cause at A-R-T & Associates Each year, Ronald McDonald House Charities and Coca-Cola Company commission an art partner to create an original painting that is auctioned during a fundraising event to raise money for the charity, which provides housing for a family while a child is receiving life-saving care at hospitals around the country. This year, A-R-T & Associates won the bid to do the poster printing. Check out how they created this year’s super cool poster using LexJet TRIBUTE Satin Photo Paper 240g. READ MORE

Printer Challenge: Reproduce the 30-foot Painting, African Menagerie Christopher Glassman, general partner at Casual Graphics in Hays, Kan., was asked to reproduce an enormous painting by Brian Jarvi titled “African Menagerie.” The painting, which captures 210 species living in Africa now, was 17 years in the making. It’s been part of a traveling exhibit and Jarvi wanted a more manageable version for smaller venues, as well as prints for reproductions. Check out how the Casual Graphics team made it happen. READ MORE

LexJet Print-N-Stick: Encouraging Students to Explore the World Year after year, LexJet Print-N-Stick Fabric continues to be a customer favorite, especially for temporary wall murals. Elementary school teacher Rachel Montisano is thrilled with the results of the images on Print-N-Stick and says that the size and scope of the graphics played a huge part in bringing the environments to life in her classroom, which continue to generate excitement and learning among the students. READ MORE

HP Adhesive Vinyl Case Studies: ‘The Best We’ve Ever Used’ Whenever we launch a new product, our hope is that customers gain the most value possible from it, and the new line of HP Adhesive Vinyl did not disappoint for AlphaGraphics in Rexburg, Idaho, who used HP Prime Gloss Air GP and the Polymeric Matte Overlaminate to create a wall mural that was full of detailed text, spot-on colors, and multiple image depths. READ MORE

Looking back on 2018, we’ve seen a lot of much-needed innovation, as well as power-house collaborations. Our top five launches of the year answered customer demand for versatile, cost-effective, application-driven solutions across the board in the wide-format market. If you haven’t tried these new options, what are you waiting for? The year’s almost over!

Fabric transferred using InFuze transfer paper

LexJet InFuze® Dye-Sublimation Papers — Adding to our dye-sub portfolio was a top priority for our customers who were bringing this new technology to their tool kits. We created the fresh InFuze brand, and brought to market four high-end, competitively-priced transfer paper options that our customers couldn’t refuse:

ChromaLuxe EXT — Another important product line for our dye-sub customers is the stunning ChromaLuxe metal photo panels, a high-demand item. This year, ChromaLuxe introduced its EXT line, geared toward extended outdoor use — something dye-sub wasn’t able to achieve previously. The EXT innovation won ChromaLuxe an SGIA Product of the Year award, and it’s not hard to see why. Check out this story about how the panels were used as wayfinding signs for Felts Audubon Preserve.

AveryxLexJet — In one of the wide-format industry’s biggest news stories of the year, LexJet partnered with Avery Dennison, adding more than 200 calendared and cast vinyl, film and laminate products to our product line. Now, LexJet customers have access to all the vehicle and fleet wraps, wall films and so much more.

LexJet Flex Tek used for banners

LexJet Flex Tek — One thing so many print shops struggle with is inventory space, that’s why we love all-in-one media products like LexJet Flex Tek 170g for aqueous printers and LexJet Flex Tek SUV 200g, compatible with eco-solvent, latex and UV-curable inks. This non-woven technical fabric is lightweight and easy to use, making it a go-to option for hanging banners, retractable banners and even wrapped canvas.

HP Vinyl + Overlams — What the world needs now is a line of vinyl products that work well and are priced right. That’s what we delivered with the massive launch of the new HP Vinyl line of products.

We brought them big time with our 2018 SGIA Expo booth, where the colors were bright and installation was a breeze. But don’t take it from us — listen to what customers have said:

HP Vinyl for walls

“The colors are truer than with my previous material and the gloss is more vibrant.”

“We did an install onto a gym wall mat and it went on without a hitch! The rigidity of the material and the strength of the backer lead to a smooth installation.”

“My guys love the HP. They grab it for every application they can use it on, and they tell me that the air-release component is the best they’ve ever used.”

Now that you know all the hottest launches of 2018, stay tuned to this blog to discover the trends you need to keep an eye on in the New Year!

In October, we announced the new acoustic rating for EnduraFab™ textiles for sound absorption and noise reduction when used with an acoustic board or foam. So Ryan Moore, Vice President of DFMGraphics in Newnan, Ga., decided to put EnduraFab™ Frontlit Premier to the test.

DFMGraphics uses an HP Latex 335 for printing EnduraFab panels.

Moore’s operation includes office space, printing facilities and a recording studio. “Everything in here is a hard edge, and sound is bouncing back and forth,” he says. “When you’re on the phone, you can hear people talking in the background.” Worse, when recording music, sounds would reverberate, echo and distort the clean sound he was looking for.

“I looked into buying panels, but the cost was too much, and I knew there’s got to be something I could print on,” he says. His LexJet representative mentioned EnduraFab, which, when mounted on an acoustic board, would trap the extraneous sounds in the panel. He paired EnduraFab™ Frontlit Premier with Rockboards from Rockwool. In his 855 square-foot room, he constructed three acoustic panels using 3/4-inch flooring plywood, 4 pieces of RockBoard 4’x2’x2” glued to the wood, then wrapped the whole thing with printed EnduraFab.

Moore installed three of the panels in the room, and immediately noticed a significant noise reduction, both when someone was speaking or when playing an instrument. “You can really hear it,” he says. “You can immediately hear my voice without any echo.”

He used fun music-related graphics for the panels, including a photo from a Nirvana concert, installed over his HP Latex 335 printer; an abstract grouping of speakers with the musical instruments and a collection of retro mix tapes in a utility area.

“The EnduraFab prints great — the color is perfect,” he says, noting some trial-and-error with profile settings. After installing the panels, he quickly received a new order from a customer for printed acoustic panels to be used in a small room to record YouTube videos.

For an ultimate test, he recorded himself speaking and playing a snare drum to illustrate the reverb and echo reduction. Take a listen below: